The clouds covered the sky, and at some point, the snow began to flutter again.

The Lincoln sped down the steamy road, its wheels making a splash. With the heavy snowfall, Edo's complex road management system began to take effect. Beneath the asphalt road, waste heat from distant factories is being pumped from an underground pipe network to every road in Edo to evaporate the snow from the road.

The street lamps flashed through the car windows quickly, and the dim lights diffused in the fog to give off a vague and dreamy color. Looking towards Edo Bay, you can see a black Japanese castle in the distance. That's where the Thousand Islands are home. This behemoth is built entirely on an artificial island on the shores of Edo Bay, and its magnificent castle tower can be seen even in such snowy weather. If you include the Kuril Shrine not far away, the scale is probably comparable to that of the Imperial Palace of Heiankyo.

"It's so annoying, it's getting dark so early, it's only afternoon......" Sixteen nights sat in the cab, driving without saying a word, in the carriage behind her, Qiandao Huaying held a delicate goblet, complaining about the weather while not forgetting to take a sip. "Stygian bamboo, why don't you drink something?" Hua Ying asked, looking at her dissatisfied sister opposite.

Too lazy to complain about her sister's soda in a goblet, Mingzhu shook her head and looked directly at Hua Ying with a serious face: "Sister, did you use 'royal power' on Mingzi?"

"'Throne', is there one...... Hua Ying's gaze wandered over the wide sunroof of the car. Through the skylight, the miserable white sky was reflected in Hua Ying's eyes, which seemed deep and boundless.

"Sister!" Seeing Hua Ying's appearance, Mingzhu frowned, "Whether it's for my sister or Mingzi, the burden caused by that kind of thing is too great." ”

"That Chiba-san, you don't have to worry. Hua Ying's gaze was still wandering, "Although I don't know the reason, she was only hypnotized by the 'royal power' for a moment before she regained consciousness. Whether it's because of her psychological quality or not, she should have no discomfort at all now. ”

"But what about my sister? Didn't my sister promise me that she wouldn't use the power of 'royal power' until I had to? Although the person concerned didn't say it, Stygian Bamboo knew that after opening the pair of golden pupils, Hua Ying should be exhausted at this moment.

"Well, that's what my father meant. After a moment of silence, Hua Ying picked up the goblet and drank the soda inside, "The reason why I will pick you up with Xi this time is also my father's intention." Father said that it doesn't matter if you use 'royal power', you must be brought back as soon as possible no matter what. He only said that he had something to say to you, and I don't know what it was. ”

"But...... But what could be more important than my sister's body?" leaned forward and continued to ask.

The dark golden pupils that Hua Ying called "royal power" were not born with her, and everything dates back to the Battle of Kyoto twelve years ago. When the first thermite bomb hit the Chishima family's house, the centuries-old wooden house began to burn violently and quickly collapsed, trapping Kazakura and her mother in flames. When Hua Ying was found in the ashes by the UFN Marines who were cleaning the battlefield, her mother had already died, and she didn't even have a single burn on her body.

Hua Ying didn't know what happened when she was besieged by the flames. After that, whenever she was emotional, Hua Ying's pupils would turn dark gold, and her pupils would shrink into a slit like a snake. Anyone who is watched by these golden eyes will obey Hua Ying. However, the load on the body of these golden pupils was also extremely great, because the appearance and physical strength of the fire were all at the eleven-year-old Hua Ying's body was weak and weak, and she couldn't afford such a burden at all. Twelve years have passed, and these different pupils are like a scar that cannot be removed, and they have remained on Hua Ying's body. Out of the protection of Hua Ying, only a few people know that the eldest lady of the Qiandao family has such extraordinary abilities, and even the existence of "Qiandao Hua Ying" itself has been deliberately covered up.

"Father must have had his own intentions in doing this. It's the Dark Bamboo...... What is Father going to announce, do you have a clue?" Hua Ying looked at the Immortal Bamboo for the first time. Seeing the tiredness hidden in the depths of his eyes, Shenzhu felt sad for a while.

"Not at all," ...... Stykaku sat up straight and shook his head, "Does my sister know something?"

"Me too......" Stykaku sighed and put the goblet aside.

A piercing screech came from afar, easily penetrating the layers of Lincoln's soundproofing and echoing through the car.

Two silver-gray painted fighters flew low, and the turbojet engines on both sides of the fuselage spun at high speed, rolling out white vortices in the air.

"Fighter planes, why is this kind of thing in the city?" Before all the noise in his ears dissipated, Stygian Bamboo felt a little dizzy. Although she had seen them countless times on television or in live military parades, she still couldn't get the slightest affection for the killing machine.

"That's not a fighter, sister. Hua Ying looked in the direction where the two planes were heading, "That's the A-30 'Valkyrie' tactical attack aircraft under the Yamato Military Region." Designed by UFN Raytheon Heavy Industries, it abandons the traditional quantum jet engine and adopts a more economical twin-turbojet engine, which can cruise at subsonic speed or hover in the air, and is equipped with a large number of air-to-ground cluster missile arrays and a 40mm Vulcan cannon, which can carry out precision strikes on tactical targets or saturate bombing of the target area in a short time......"

"Stop, stop, stop......" Styx quickly interrupted Hua Ying's gushing explanation, "Sister, why do you know so much about this kind of thing......

"Eh, because eighty percent of the 'Valkyrie' of the Yamato Military Region is produced by the Thousand Islands Heavy Industries......" Hua Ying tilted her head and looked at Mingzhu with an expression of "Isn't this a matter of course".

"Okay. Sadly finding that he didn't know how to complain about this huge slot, Stygian had to get back to the point, "Anyway, how can such a thing appear in an urban area? I haven't heard of any military parades......

"yes, you don't know yet. Hua Ying snapped her fingers, and Lincoln's holographic projection projected a three-dimensional map in front of Hua Ying, and a large area on the edge of the map was glowing red to represent danger, "Martial law signed by my father, the UFN Yamato Military Region will start a coordinated sweep against the terrorist organization 'Steel Ronin' entrenched in the old Edo city area in 1610 today......"

"Sweep...... In other words, this is war?" Hearing the word "sweeping", Stygian Bamboo tightened in his heart, "How could my father agree to such a resolution?"

"Rest assured, the opponents are just flea-like terrorists, far from being the opponents of the regular army. Looking at her sister's nervous expression, Hua Ying comforted.

"But there are still tens of thousands of poor people and exiles in old Edo! they are innocent!" Hazuku was not relieved by Hua Ying's comfort. She buried her head and stared at the map, as if she wanted to see every inch of land, "Why don't you evacuate the people in advance?"

"Because when you evacuate the people, you will also let the terrorists go," Kazakura replied, "and there is no other way to keep a terrorist from being let go, but to blow up the old Edo." ”

"I can't accept that tens of thousands of lives should be burned for nothing for such a ridiculous reason!" "Doesn't my father forget the war twelve years ago, how many innocent people died and how many people were displaced!?"

Suddenly, a warm, gardenia-scented body hugged her. Through the thin clothes, Stygian Bamboo could feel that the petite body was trembling.

"We've got no way back, Stygian Bamboo. Hua Ying wanted to hug her sister, but her body was weak when she had just exercised her "royal power", "Twelve years have passed, and all the pain, fear, and death brought to this land by the war twelve years ago have been diluted by time. Under the glitz, the people even forgot that there were still tens of thousands of people struggling to die in old Edo, just a stone's throw away from them, and that across the river from us, our former suzerainty had amassed a fleet ten times our size. The European Confederation had lost control of the entire Volga River Valley, and when the Celestial Empire's most elite divisions returned to the East, the UFN Expeditionary Force on the Goryeo Peninsula would simply not be able to hold their seemingly impregnable bridgehead. If the Celestial Empire and the terrorists at home had joined forces to attack Yamato, the number of innocent victims would have been a thousand times greater than the current number of the most advanced war machines and fleets of the Heavenly Empire! If there was no other way, I believe my father would not have made such a decision. ”

"I don't understand these big truths, sister. With tears in his eyes, Stygian Bamboo gently wrapped his arms around Hua Ying's waist, "Even if ending the war with war is the only way, I can't accept such a high-sounding killing." ”

"After all, Stygian Bamboo is a kind child. Hua Ying gently touched the head of the Dead Bamboo, "It's okay, my sister will definitely do her best to protect our daily life." ”

"Sister, will you let me cry for a while?" asked Stygian Bamboo softly.

"Hmm. Kazakura stroked the hair of the Dead Bamboo and let her tears wet her kimono.

“......”

“......”

"Sister. ”

"Huh?"

"Your chest doesn't feel comfortable at all. ”

“...... Die, sister. ”